• Ernie Ball
  • MusicMan
  • Sterling by MusicMan

gitapik

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 4, 2012
Messages
103
Location
NYC
Just got this beauty off of reverb.com. I love it. Area 61 neck, 58 middle, AT-1 bridge. Plays, sounds soooo nice. Couldn't be happier.

I'll post more shots later. Just pulled it out of the box. I'm stoked!



Very happy about this. I sold a Silo Standard a while back cuz I didn't dig the Floyd. Started missing the size/playability/sound of the model, so I started looked around. Think the Special suits my style of play better than the Standard.
 

gitapik

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 4, 2012
Messages
103
Location
NYC
Thanks!

I plugged it into the BJr (modded to 30w) right after checking it out, acoustically. Played both clean and with light OD. All the pups sounded great and cleaned up very well.

Busy day todayd. It was a quick check to make sure the pots and pups were working right. And get a general feel.

I'll be checking them out through my rigs, later. I tend to like to set the amp very clean and let the pedals do the work, as a general rule.

I'll post more about the pickups and guitar later when I've really had a chance to get to know it. As is, I'm elated. The initial check was beyond positive and the guitar's so much easier to play leads on than on my '57 AVRI Strat (though I do love that guitar).
 

gitapik

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 4, 2012
Messages
103
Location
NYC
Got the same guitar, its an awesome beast. Can play anything on it.

I like to hear that...and you've got a sweet collection, there.

I'm waiting to hear from the seller to find out the string gauge. I always use 10s and these feel like 9s. But this guitar plays so different from the Strat. Whatever they are, I'd like to keep using them. Not a thin sound at all. And the slide plays without any fret buzz.
 
Last edited:

gitapik

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 4, 2012
Messages
103
Location
NYC
That's beautiful!! Great score!

I'd love to know how you find the Area single coils. Thinking of going there on my own Silo Spec at some point in the future.
First and foremost: I love this guitar.

Second (and almost as important): I've had a chance to check out the pickups with my rigs.

Bridge position HB: I love the AT-1. It's slammin'! Clean, OD, and distortion. Very fine pickup for all applications. Sounds great with a compressor, too.

Neck and Middle position singles: I'm not a big fan of noiseless pups to begin with, and I'm wondering why these Areas would be installed on a guitar with a silent circuit in the first place. They sound pretty good, but I'm not sold on them, at this point. I read that the '61 is great in the bridge position...but see no mention about placement in the neck position. This is interesting, as I'm not hearing a great deal of difference in sound between that pup and the '58 in the middle. If anything, I'm reading about the '58s in the neck and middle and the '61 in the bridge. Seems that the '61 is a bright one, which might be what's causing this similarity in tone with the '58(?).

I'm a big fan of DiMarzio stuff and have been for decades, but I'm not sure if these singles are right for this guitar. I'll be talking to my tech soon about either adjusting, switching placement, or replacing them.
 

coolhandluc

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 1, 2016
Messages
68
Location
NC
I love my Silo Special with the stock pickups. I've had Area singles in my other guitars for years and love them as well. I find the 67 to be the brightest, so I've used those in the neck to help "balance" the pickup switching and make the neck brighter like the bridge. Worked well. Lincoln Brewster does the 58/58/61 combo with the 61 being the bridge. His strats sound great. And since the Area pickups are actually just stacked humbuckers to be silent, I think that helps them sound more "normal" if that makes sense.

One question, do you know if the silent circuit is still in the guitar just not connected? If it is you can basically just put whatever was originally in the Silo back in it, or get other things that you like. I personally think the stock pickups are great in the guitar. I was very pleasantly surprised by that.
 

gitapik

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 4, 2012
Messages
103
Location
NYC
I love my Silo Special with the stock pickups. I've had Area singles in my other guitars for years and love them as well. I find the 67 to be the brightest, so I've used those in the neck to help "balance" the pickup switching and make the neck brighter like the bridge. Worked well. Lincoln Brewster does the 58/58/61 combo with the 61 being the bridge. His strats sound great. And since the Area pickups are actually just stacked humbuckers to be silent, I think that helps them sound more "normal" if that makes sense.

One question, do you know if the silent circuit is still in the guitar just not connected? If it is you can basically just put whatever was originally in the Silo back in it, or get other things that you like. I personally think the stock pickups are great in the guitar. I was very pleasantly surprised by that.

Thanks for the reply, luc. I didn't know that about the Areas being, essentially, stacked humbuckers. Yes...it makes sense.

The Silo Special I checked out at Sam Ash (which made me decide to buy one) had the stock pups in there. I liked that sound better than than the Areas for this guitar.

I checked the battery compartment and, well waddya know!? It's empty, after all (thanks). Which makes me wonder: do the Areas, without the silent circuit active, sound better than the original pups or another chosen set with the silent circuit active. Apparently, the previous owner thought so.
 

coolhandluc

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 1, 2016
Messages
68
Location
NC
I LOVE the Area's sound. But I love these stock pickups too. So I could be happy either way, but these stock pickups are all balanced well enough I don't have GAS for new pups. So that's good for my wallet.
 

gitapik

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 4, 2012
Messages
103
Location
NYC
HOLD THE PRESSES, FOLKS!!!

I'm starting to warm up to these Area pickups. Still a little unsure about the '61 in the neck because it's a little bright...but it does combine beautifully with the '58 in the middle.

Just taking some getting used to. I'll be playing it a lot more and bringing it to my tech to see what he thinks, as well.

Such a nice guitar. Kudos to MusicMan in a big way.

 
Last edited:

coolhandluc

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 1, 2016
Messages
68
Location
NC
If you stick with the Areas, I'd put a 58 in the neck as well. 58/58/AT-1 would probably do the trick. Glad you like them!
 
Top Bottom